Tag Archives: Janiva Magness

This week’s shift inside the workshop features the new album by The Soul of John Black, as well as a cool Diddley meets Hendrix interpretation of “Who Do You Love?” and a pair of teenage brothers who have already been playing music for newarly ten years!

One of my favorite forms of the Blues is the North Mississippi Hill Country style, and that style is being kept alive by some sincredibly talented folks. One of those men is Lightnin’ Malcolm, and he’s released a brand new album. The featured selection from inside “Johnny’s Mailbox” is “Gettin’ Dark” by Lightnin’ Malcolm. It comes off his highly anticipated new release Foot Soldier. Malcolm went back to his beginnings on this disc, opting to perform as a one man band for all but two of these tracks. He wrote all of the songs on the disc, and produced the record, as well!

You can find out more about this CD, get Malcolm’s tour schedule, and much more on his official website, LightninMalcolm.com

The Easter holiday gave us a perfect layover to stack up a healthy selection of new Blues CDs in our mailbox. This week features several of those albums, beginning with the title track off the new album by Janiva Magness. Love Wins Again is available now, and you can Click Here to Listen to my archived interview with Janiva Magness! From there, we hear a ton of great new Blues releases, including music by Guy King. Scroll below this week’s playlist to watch a video of Guy in the studio discussing his new album, Truth, and a seocnd video for his new song, “My Happiness.”

Courtesy Black Hen

The featured selection from inside “Johnny’s Mailbox” is “Driver’s Wheel” by Steve Dawson. Steve is a Vancouver native, who has since relocated to Nashville, Tennessee. For this new album, he assembled a full band, and incorporated many traditional Roots music styles into his Blues. It is a stark contrast to his stripped down, instrumental album released in 2014. The new set is available digitally, on CD, or on 180 gram double vinyl LP! You can purchase the vinyl, learn more about Steve Dawson, and listen to his new podcast on his official website – SteveDawson.ca

Out of the 13 songs played this week, seven of them come off brand new arrivals to our studio. There is a great Soul Blues to kick it off, some Blues Rock, a little acoustic music, some Country influence, and a pair of North Mississippi Hill Country songs!

Courtesy Muskett Music

The featured selection from inside “Johnny’s Mailbox” is “Sweet Mary Jane,” by the Dave Muskett Acoustic Blues Band. It appears on the new album, Recorded Live At The Slippery Noodle Inn, which is available everywhere beginning February 16, 2016.Click Here to hear samples of every song on the CD

This week’s shift inside the home for new & independent Blues music strikes the perfect balance between established stars and young talent on the rise. There is also a wonderful selection of tunes from leading ladies of the genre, a tribute to Memphis in song, and the Blind Pig Records return of Smokin’ Joe Kubek & Bnois King!

Courtesy Swingsuit

The featured selection from inside “Johnny’s Mailbox” is “Make It Through,” the opening track to the latest album from Jeff Jensen, titled Morose Elephant. As I remark in the show, Jeff’s passion for the Blues is unmatched. He is connected into a spider’s web of artists networking across America and beyond. He is a songwriter, singer, guitarist, producer, and probably most importantly – he’s an advocate for Blues music.

This album saw a lot of recognizable names coming together to join Jensen on this project, and it features appearances by Victor Wainwright, Eric Hughes, Reba Russell and others. The album features 11 tracks in all, with seven original songs. In addition to all of the work Jeff does in the studio, he’s also a rabid road warrior, touring extensively with dates in the US stretched out into the spring and a European tour to follow that. There are plenty of chances to witness his passion for the music first hand. You can check out his tour schedule, and find out more information about Jeff, his band, and the album Morose Elephant on his official website, JeffJensenBand.com

As mentioned at the beginning of the show, this week, it’s a pretty gutsy thing to craft a list of albums and say they’re “the best.” Yet, every December, countless media outlets try to hammer you with their opinions of the best releases from the last 12 months. I don’t think art can be judged that way, so this week’s playlist features music from my favorite albums of 2014. – Johnny Full-Time

The show features a wide selection of Blues styles, and some truly independent releases alongside some big name artists like Gary Clark, Jr., Paul Thorn, and Janiva Magness, to name a few. There’s no featured selection from inside “Johnny’s Mailbox,” this week. However, several of these albums were featured throughout the year.

Courtesy Vizz-Tone

My absolute favorite album of 2014, although close to call, is In The Magic Shop, the posthumous release from Sean Costello by the Vizz-Tone Label Group. This episode closes with an incredible cover by Sean of Rod Stewart’s “You Wear It Well.” Don’t Miss It!

Remember, 100% of the proceeds made from the sale of this album benefit the Sean Costello Memorial Fund for Bipolar Research. You can find complete information on their official website: SeanCostelloFund.org